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'Christmas bulb bandit' squirrel steals 150 colorful bulbs in 24 hours

By Ben Hooper
The "Christmas bulb bandit" runs off with a yellow bulb from a string of Christmas lights outside of a Seattle home. Screenshot: Margaret Rican/YouTube
The "Christmas bulb bandit" runs off with a yellow bulb from a string of Christmas lights outside of a Seattle home. Screenshot: Margaret Rican/YouTube

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SEATTLE, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A Seattle woman whose home was targeted by a Christmas light-stealing "bulb bandit" said she eventually caught the culprit on video -- a neighborhood squirrel.

Margaret Rican said the "Christmas bulb bandit" stole more than 150 bulbs from her outdoor decorations in the space of 24 hours before she managed to catch the thief on video.

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A video Rican posted to YouTube shows the squirrel running while holding a yellow Christmas bulb, while a second video shows the small animal jumping into a tree while carrying a blue bulb. A third video shows the squirrel repeating the jump, this time with an orange bulb.

"The holiday season is upon us, and people are feeling festive with holiday lights, always fearing that the Grinch will steal Christmas," Rican wrote.

"This year, we found a new thief. He's a little squirrel that we are calling the Bulb Bandit. We want to believe that this little varmint is decorating his nest, but really, we think that he believes these to be food. He has stolen 150 in 24 hours, carefully and precisely chewing through the wires to steal the bulb and bury them around the neighborhood. He's the hardest working rodent we've ever seen. and we are really pulling for him, and hoping he survives this winter. He's a quick little bandit, with really good hops."

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